photo of the day: president's day

Fact: I looooove shooting in Washington DC. Especially at night. I just think it's such a gorgeous city that I'm always game for a photo shoot there. When M got married, I couldn't shoot her wedding; I was already double-booked that day. So I promised that we'd do a bridal shoot at some point. Well, a couple of months ago I had a free evening, so of course I had to occupy it by driving to DC and taking pictures!

We had a blast with this shoot, stomping through the monument area, M wearing her dress and a flannel jacket, myself with a mask on my head, and my assistant/makeup artist wearing a tiny top hat. Passersby either thought we were Halloween rejects or asked to have their photos taken with us. Both ends of the spectrum there.

For this image I used one off-camera flash held to the right, triggered by on-camera flash. I have no idea what the rest of the settings were, but I was working hard to get Lincoln in the background. Note: shooting at monuments and memorials can be tricky, because you want some of that iconic imagery but its easy to make things look like bad travel photography. This was one of my absolute favorite images of the night, despite the fact that friends have informed me that Abe looks like a creeper in the background. You know, he kind of does. ah, well. Happy Presidents Day!

practicing techniques just for fun

So here's the thing about being a photographer: there's always a new skill to master, One of the ones Jared and I have been working on lately is this off-camera flash thing. It's tricker than one might think to use it to advantage. So we combined the need to practice with my love of DC at night as well as our incredibly gorgeous friends and you have the DC at night shoot. This shoot doesn't have a story, but some of the images are fabulous in my humble opinion.


This is our pretend underage scandal image. J looked so respectable in his tux that we kept cracking senator jokes and this was the result.


This is the whole group who showed up to pose, sweat, and generally be awesome. 


The lovely ladies of our group. 

Yes, she's a dancer, and you don't want to know how many times I made her do this. 

I love photographing dancers! 

No, she's not a dancer, but she's just lovely. 

This image is one of Jared's, and I love the fierceness. 

So, so cute. 

I love the intimacy of this shot. How adorable are they? 

Another one of Jared's images. I love the framing and the story inside it. 

Hahahaha. He rode his bike all over DC with those wings, and it was AWESOME. 

One of Jared's images. 

I love. This. Picture. To me it feels like a still from an old movie. 

Also this one. Mr Smith goes to Washington, maybe? 

There's a much more Bond-esqe version of this shot, but I liked his smile too much not to share it. 

Yes, they are amazing. 

Ladies and gentlemen, she probably will be president at some point, so just get used to the Jackie O suits now. 
I'm sure I'll do another one of these shoots at some point; hopefully more photographers will join!

e.session for e&s

S contacted me some months ago, before she was even engaged, about the possibility of doing a couples session during Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. I loved the idea, and was probably just as excited as she when E proposed a couple of weeks prior to the shoot. It had to to be postponed once because the trees weren't blooming, but when the big day finally arrived, we had perfect weather. E&S were troopers, walking all over DC in dress shoes (my feet hurt, and I was wearing converse), posing fearlessly in front of the hordes of strangers thronging DC, and continually looking cute on command. We were rewarded, I think, with some of my favorite photos ever. Here's to Cherry Blossoms!


We started out (after trying to find each other) behind this tent because hello, it's yellow. And we all know how I feel about that. 

It's actually a Scientology booth; we snuck around to the back so they wouldn't try to talk to us. And were careful not to knock it over. 

Shoes! 

Jared took this one, and I think it's a brilliant use of the fisheye.



Yay! How cure are they? This is their default pose. 

I see some blue skies... bum bum bum. 

Le ring. A new perspective on that shot, and one that I like. 

Cherry blossoms + texture= I like. 

Spidey kiss! He was being a goof and hanging from the tree, so i was like "kiss him!" I love it. 

This is trying to get back into the tree. 

I love the way she looks when she laughs. 

I could have shot on this avenue for hours. Well, if it weren't full of strollers. 

Isn't the backlighting amazing? Love the sunset. 

Goooorgeous. 

Maybe my favorite? Not sure. 

Indie rock band? Nah, just cute. 

Love in the afternoon. 



Nice, um, rear. 



Cherry blossoms on ring, ring on cherry blossoms. See what I did there? 

They're catching cherry blossoms in the breeze. 

Hollywood kiss. 



Spins!